9-14-2025 11:54pm

Hull Wins Thrilling Final Round Showdown With World No.1

Beth Callahan Editor

(Photo credit LPGA & Getty Images) Leader Charley Hull

By Amy Rogers

HAMILTON TOWNSHIP, OH - The fourth edition of the Kroger Queen City Championship presented by P&G came to a thrilling conclusion with eight players within four strokes of the lead as they made the turn at TPC River’s Bend. But just two holes into the back nine the jam-packed leaderboard had been whittled down to just two players, who separated themselves from the rest of the field, Charley Hull and Jeeno Thitikul. The pair went toe-to-toe in what felt more like a match play duel than a stroke play championship that wasn’t decided until a critical mistake saw the world’s top-ranked player four-putt the 72nd hole to give Hull the win.

“I think I was a bit shocked,” Hull said about what unfolded on the 18th green on Sunday, in which she made a two-footer for birdie to win the Kroger Queen City Championship presented by P&G. “I was shaking over that putt like I've never shook before because I think I was so shocked.”

Hull and Thitikul traded spots atop the leaderboard throughout the day, and came to the par four 17th hole tied for lead after Hull drained a putt from outside 30 feet for a bounce-back birdie to once more match the Thai at the top.

But Hull had fought a double miss off the tee throughout the round, and once again put herself in a tough position as she found the fairway bunker down the right side of the difficult par four, 17th hole. Hull’s ball came to rest just inches from the lip which forced her to simply advance the ball back into the fairway.

“In the bunker it would've been completely fine, but I really hit a good drive there,” Hull said about her tee shot on the 17th hole. “It didn't move a yard. Anywhere in the bunker would've been fine, but I was in the lip. Three feet back I would've had a nice easy shot to the green. Got a bit screwed there.”

Giving Thitikul the advantage from 118 yards to the left hole location, the Thai safely found the center of the putting surface to set up a 30-footer for birdie. Still off the putting surface in three, Hull chipped up to two feet from the fringe to make a critical bogey down the closing stretch. Thitikul two-putted for par to remain at 20-under par and took a one-stroke lead to the 72nd hole.

On the 18th tee Hull took an aggressive line, which left her 140 yards to the reachable par five and an advantage over Thitikul, who took a more conservative line and had nearly 200 yards left to the green. Both managed to find the putting surface in two with an opportunity to make an eagle.

Thitikul played first from the back of the green and stood over a long-range putt from nearly 50-feet. With nearly 20 feet of break and far too much speed, Thitikul rolled the ball well out to the right and sent it sailing 10 feet past the hole, leaving the tournament leader a long putt coming back for birdie. Hull was perched on a swale about 30-feet left of the pin and cozied her lag putt to within two-feet of the hole for birdie.

Coming back up the hill, Thitikul again was too firm with her speed and powered her birdie putt through the break and over the left edge of the cup. Thitikul was still outside Hull’s putt with a long par save to stay at 20-under par and maintain her one shot advantage. Thitikul missed her third putt on the same side of the hole which resulted in a shocking four-putt for bogey. Hull cozied in her putt from short range for birdie and the victory.

“I wasn't really watching her putt for birdie because I thought she was going to hole it,” Hull said about Thitikul. “I guess it's not over until the fat lady sings.”

Hull becomes the 25th different winner this season on the LPGA Tour and secures her third career title with her victory and first since 2022. The win comes just a week after she finished runner-up on the LET.

“It shows you how strong and the depth there is on the LPGA Tour. Like going back, say, 20 years ago, it was -- you would get very much the same winners because always the top 10 on the rankings,” Hull said about the difficulty of winning on Tour. “Now I feel like the depth is so strong, so that shows you how strong the Tour is. It's getting harder and harder to win, so you have to play good every week.”

Thitikul finished one-back of Hull and runner-up for the second consecutive year at the Kroger Queen City Championship presented by P&G. And the rookies that have been so impressive throughout the season continued their strong play in Ohio where Lottie Woad finished at 18-under par and solo third for her third top 10 of the season and Miyu Yamashita was fourth at 17-under par.

“I think it's probably going to be third in the end. I gave it a good run on the front nine, got up there and kind of slowed down a little bit,” Woad said about her performance on Sunday. “Played well today and just pretty aggressive, so happy with that.”

Hull held a narrow one-stroke margin after 54-holes ahead of Thitikul, who she played with in the final group on Sunday along with rookie Chisato Iwai. Early in the final round the trio was tied atop the leaderboard when Iwai, who started the day two-strokes back of Hull, made birdies at Nos. 4, 5, and 6, but faded over the round with two double bogeys on the inward nine.

Hull fought a double miss off the tee which began at No. 1, where she caught the right rough off the tee, and then at No. 2 tumbled into the left fairway bunker. For the second straight day it took Hull time to settle into the round in which she found her footing with her first birdie at the par five, sixth hole which became the first of three consecutive birdies to extend her lead to as many as two at 19-under par.

Thitikul kept pace with Hull by making back-to-back birdies at Nos. 10 and 11 to tie Hull atop the leaderboard only to see the Englishwoman make birdie of her own at No. 11 to pull ahead of Thitkul by one.

But at the par four, 13th hole Hull continued to battle her unwieldy driver and found the rough off the right of the fairway. She hacked the ball out of the heavy rough and well left of the green and was unable to convert a 20-footer to save par and fell back into a tie at the top with Thitikul. It would prove to be a turning point as Hull, who found the fairway with a massive drive at the par four, 14th hole was unable to capitalize on her length to retake the lead. Instead, it was Thitikul, who hit her approach to eight feet to convert the birdie-try to take the outright lead at 20-under par with three holes to play.

Nelly Korda began the final round three-strokes back of the lead and made a run up the leaderboard on Sunday afternoon. Three-strokes off the lead as she made the turn, Korda struggled with three consecutive bogeys on her inward nine to fall off the pace. Korda came away with a tie for fifth at 15-under par along with Mary Liu, Sei Young Kim, Maja Stark, Jennifer Kupcho, Nasa Hataoka, and Chisato Iwai.

With the strongest field in the tournament’s history assembled for the 2025 Kroger Queen City Championship presented by P&G, the organizers couldn’t have designed a much more exciting conclusion to the week than the one that the world’s finest delivered on Sunday.

“I mean how can you top that finish?” said Matt Griffith, Senior Director at P&G. “It came down to the very last putt, literally. It was a great scoreboard, a great leaderboard throughout the final round back and forth. And seeing the fan support on the hill at the 18th as everything was coming down was fantastic.”